Box Score | POMONA, Calif. – Prior to Saturday's series finale against Cal State Stanislaus at Scolinos Field, the 12th-ranked Cal Poly Pomona baseball team recognized its 10 senior student-athletes.
The seniors kept the show going in the actual game as the fourth-year players scored six runs in the Broncos' 8-4 win over the Warriors. The result puts CPP just one win - or a Cal State East Bay loss - away from clinching a playoff berth in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championships tournament to be held in Stockton from May 8 through May 10.
The top four teams advance and the Broncos are in fourth at 22-10 in league play. Fifth-place Cal State East Bay trails CPP by .157 in terms of winning percentage. The Broncos have yet to lose a CCAA series in 2014 and that trend continued this weekend with three wins over Stanislaus. CPP will travel to take on first-place Chico State (25-7) next weekend for the final regular season series.
Senior rightfielder
Joseph Eusebio went 3-for-4 with two runs and one RBI in his final home game as a Bronco. After serving as a freshman on the 2011 playoff team, Eusebio now has 176 career hits at CPP. To view footage of the Senior Day ceremony,
click here.
Austin Boyle contributed an impressive relief outing in Saturday's game, going 4.2 innings with zero earned runs to earn his third win of the season. The Broncos trailed 4-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh before the host squad rallied for the comeback victory.
In the first inning, CPP's offense took advantage of Warriors' starter Nick Ippolito dealing with some control issues. The Broncos collected three walks in that frame and senior
Chris Carlson provided a two-run double down the rightfield line. Fellow fourth-year
Bo Walter added a sacrifice fly to put the early CPP lead at 3-0.
Ippolito settled in nicely though and gave CSUS a chance to make its own comeback. Tanner Negrette cut the margin to 3-1 with a two-out RBI double in the second inning. During the top of the fourth, the Warriors rallied for three unearned runs to take a 4-3 lead.
With Ippolito out of the game and CSUS reliever Ryan McDaniel into his second inning of work in the seventh, the Broncos' offense came alive. A
David Armendariz single put runners at the corners and then Eusebio tied the game at 4-4 with a single. With two outs, a check swing from Walter ended placing the ball in shallow leftfield and brought in Armendariz for the go-ahead score.
CPP added two more runs in that inning and another insurance score in the eighth before wrapping up the 8-4 victory.
